Should i go get a "Free" wheel alignment

[Yawesh]

so i see that wheel alignments are covered via warranty for the first year. My vehicle warranty 'started' in july.

Thinking about going to the dealer and complain my car can't drive straight on the highway, so i can bag a 'free' alignment

what u guys think?

[hatchbackkid82]

do it

[MUSKOKA800]

Personally, unless you need an alignment, I'd stay as far from the stealership as possible.
Perhaps is just bad luck, but strange, and often expensive things always happen to my vehicles shortly after visiting a shop. There's no dought that once they have your car as hostege the $ signs start flashing in their eyes. This is why dealerships often offer dirt cheap oil changes. "Oh, by the way sir, we noticed that XXXX also needs attention. We should do that now as well".

[nemelek]

If you put a value on your time, just to get a wheel alignment because it's free will cost you hours of your life that you will never get back. If you were going to the dealership for other work you might want it done.

[SilverBack]

+1. If you're gonna be stuck there all day for other services, then you might as well get the free alignment. Otherwise, don't bother

[BailOut]

I subscribe to the "If it isn't broke don't fix it." philosophy.

[SeaYa]

so i see that wheel alignments are covered via warranty for the first year. My vehicle warranty 'started' in july.

Thinking about going to the dealer and complain my car can't drive straight on the highway, so i can bag a 'free' alignment

what u guys think?

Only if your car is actually hard to keep straight on the highway. Otherwise, save it just in case you do screw up your alignment in the next few months.

[BLAZINBLUEVITZ]

good tech will take car out on highway to confirm your complaint......

[Tamago]

take some camber bolts when you go and turn your "free" alignment into a "custom" alignment

i say do it.

[tomato]

I subscribe to the "If it isn't broke don't fix it." philosophy.

+1:thumbsup:

[Loren]

They'll just put it on the rack, see that it's within the (wide) factory tolerances and say it's fine. Not worth your time.

[Yawesh]

I subscribe to the "If it isn't broke don't fix it." philosophy.

actually it is beyond awful on the highway....maybe it's time to rotate my tires? it's 8000 miles...it hasn't been rotated yet i believe(bought it at 5k)

[RogueYaris]

I subscribe to the "If it isn't broke don't fix it." philosophy.

+2. That and really, it takes away from services that really do need to be done.

Do you think that you actually need it?

[Tamago]

They'll just put it on the rack, see that it's within the (wide) factory tolerances and say it's fine. Not worth your time.

and this is why you wander back and make friends with the alignment tech, ask him if he can install your camber bolts, and get you the alignment you want.

a custom alignment doesn't take any more time than a regular alignment, really.

[Loren]

and this is why you wander back and make friends with the alignment tech, ask him if he can install your camber bolts, and get you the alignment you want.

a custom alignment doesn't take any more time than a regular alignment, really.
There's about a 25% chance of that working. Most alignment techs aren't educated on how or why to do a performance alignment. They'll look at you asking them to give you more camber and say "no way, I can't do that to a car that's under warranty, it will wear your tires out!".

Sadly, most alignment techs understand very little other than the alignment machine showing them that the car is "in the green".

On the flip side, I had GREAT service from the Saturn shop when I was in Wichita. Their shop foreman was a racer, knew the gig, and was thrilled when someone who knew what they wanted came in and asked for something specific. He didn't mind spending the extra time to dial in a perfect alignment if he knew that the driver was going to appreciate it. So, it IS possible that you can get a good alignment tech... even at a dealer shop.

[Tamago]

There's about a 25% chance of that working. Most alignment techs aren't educated on how or why to do a performance alignment. They'll look at you asking them to give you more camber and say "no way, I can't do that to a car that's under warranty, it will wear your tires out!".

Sadly, most alignment techs understand very little other than the alignment machine showing them that the car is "in the green".

On the flip side, I had GREAT service from the Saturn shop when I was in Wichita. Their shop foreman was a racer, knew the gig, and was thrilled when someone who knew what they wanted came in and asked for something specific. He didn't mind spending the extra time to dial in a perfect alignment if he knew that the driver was going to appreciate it. So, it IS possible that you can get a good alignment tech... even at a dealer shop.

i'm fortunate enough to have access to an alignment rack after hours if i need it :wub:

another trick i've done in the past is to visit a few "tire" shops in my area, like tires plus, tire kingdom, etc.

before i went inside i went and spoke to the alignment tech, got to know him a bit. then i went inside and purchased a 3year alignment.... since they were a chain, i'd get the car aligned every 3 months or so, depending on how much autocrossing i'd been doing, and never hit the same shop more than once a year. the 3year alignment paid for itself in 9 months. and the techs were perfectly fine giving me the alignment i wanted.

[HTM Yaris]

If you drive in a pothole ridden environmet , your car may actually be out of alignment , then free would be good .

I notice that after driving 3-4 months of the year on mostly dirt roads , the tow seems to wander out . Last year my 07 LB was just within the green area Loren mentioned . This year it was out . Although the roads I drove this year were full of long sandy "rumple strips" along with giant potholes and I must add there are no speed limits on those roads :smile:

If your gonna walk "around back" , befriend a mechanic . They know how to align and more . Who knows that mechanic may own their own shop one day .

[ozmdd]

I went ahead and asked that my alignment be done before the 1 year expired while I had it in for some other service. I mentioned that it seemed to pull a little bit. Nothing more was asked.
They did a comprehensive 4 wheel alignment on a very fancy machine, and printed out a before/after set of specs. It did improve some, even though ti was basically fine before. I think they often don't do any significant alignment when they come into the port, much like a bicycle shop doesn't really true wheels on new bikes out of the box. Its amazing what a little extra attention can do.
I don't think you'll have much luck getting camber bolts installed, and make sure you have your oem wheels on the car, or they probably won't do it at all. I pulled my 17's and put the stockers back on, since they needed balancing anyway (I used my oem's for autocross before buying some r-comps)

[Tamago]

what did they do to the rear of your car on this 4 wheel alignment? ;)

[tomato]

I subscribe to the "If it isn't broke don't fix it." philosophy.

+1

[Tamago]

+1

neither of you autocross huh.. lol

[2006fronty]

what did they do to the rear of your car on this 4 wheel alignment? ;)

I'm guessing they didn't do a da#m thing in the rear lol.

[Phaeton]

My dealer is a rare exception from the norm. They haven't found or recommended any services that I didn't need. So far I've only had my oil changed and had the tires rotated. I've got 64,000 miles on my car.

Personally, unless you need an alignment, I'd stay as far from the stealership as possible.
Perhaps is just bad luck, but strange, and often expensive things always happen to my vehicles shortly after visiting a shop. There's no dought that once they have your car as hostege the $ signs start flashing in their eyes. This is why dealerships often offer dirt cheap oil changes. "Oh, by the way sir, we noticed that XXXX also needs attention. We should do that now as well".